Prepared for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Geologic Map of MTM –40277, –45277, –40272, and –45272 Quadrangles,

Eastern Hellas Planitia Region of Mars
By Leslie F. Bleamaster III and David A. Crown

Pamphlet to accompany
Scientific Investigations Map 3096
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2010

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................1
Regional Geology and History .....................................................................................................................1
Data and Methods .........................................................................................................................................2
Crater Counting Methodology ............................................................................................................3
Stratigraphy ....................................................................................................................................................3
Hellas Rim Assemblage ................................................................................................................................3
Hellas Floor Assemblage ..............................................................................................................................5
Vallis and Channel Materials .......................................................................................................................5
Crater Materials .............................................................................................................................................6
Discussion . .....................................................................................................................................................6
Fluvial Systems that dissect the Hellas Rim . ...................................................................................6
Extensions of Dao and Harmakhis Valles onto the Basin Floor and Contributions to Hellas
Planitia from the Rim . .............................................................................................................7
Boundary between the East Hellas Basin Rim and Hellas Planitia . ............................................7
Geologic History . ...........................................................................................................................................8
Acknowledgments .........................................................................................................................................8
References Cited ...........................................................................................................................................8

Table
1. Areas, crater densities, relative ages, and contact relations for map units in the eastern
Hellas Planitia region of Mars . ....................................................................................................11

i

Introduction
Hellas Planitia comprises the floor deposits of the Hellas
basin, more than 2,000 km across and 8 km deep, which is
located in the southern hemisphere’s cratered highlands and is
the largest well-preserved impact structure on the Martian sur-
face (fig. 1). The circum-Hellas highlands represent a significant
percentage of the southern hemisphere of Mars and have served
as a locus for volcanic and sedimentary activity throughout
Martian geologic time. Hellas basin topography has had a long-
lasting influence, acting as Mars’ deepest and second largest
depositional sink, as a source for global dust storms (Greeley
and others, 1992), and as a forcing agent on southern hemi-
sphere atmospheric circulation (Colaprete and others, 2004,
2005). The region lies in the Martian mid-latitude zone where
geomorphic indicators of past, and possibly contemporary,
ground ice are prominent (Greeley and Guest, 1987; Crown and
others, 1992; Squyres and others, 1992; Leonard and Tanaka,
2001; Mest and Crown, 2001; Mustard and others, 2001; Crown
and others, 2005; Berman and others, 2009). The highlands
north of the basin show concentrations of Noachian valley net-
works (Carr, 1996), and those to the east show prominent lobate
debris aprons that are considered to be geomorphic indicators of
ground ice (Squyres, 1979, 1989; Lucchitta, 1984; Squyres and
Carr, 1986; Pierce and Crown, 2003; Chuang and Crown, 2005).
Several studies have proposed that Hellas itself was the site
of extensive glacial and lacustrine activity (Kargel and Strom,
1992; Moore and Wilhelms, 2001, 2007; Crown and others,
2005; Wilson and others, 2007). Recent analyses of mineralogi-
cal information from Mars Express’ OMEGA (Observatoire
pour la Minéralogie, l’Eau les Glaces et l’Activité) and Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter’s CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance
Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) reveal outcrops of hydrated
phyllosilicates in the region (Mustard and others, 2007; Pelkey
and others, 2007), strengthening an already strong case for past
aqueous activity in and around Hellas basin.
Our mapping and evaluation of landforms and materials of
the Hellas region from basin rim to floor provides further insight
into Martian global climate regimes and into the abundance,
distribution, and flux of volatiles through history. Mars Trans-
verse Mercator (MTM) quadrangles –40277, –45277, –45272,
and –40272 (lat 37.5° S.–47.5° S., long 270° W.–280° W.) cover
the eastern portion of the Hellas basin including the boundary
between its floor and rim, the distal portions of Dao and Har-
makhis Valles, and the deposits of eastern Hellas Planitia. The
geologic mapping, at 1:1,000,000-scale from Viking Orbiter,
Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) infrared (IR)
and visible (VIS) wavelength, and Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
narrow-angle images, combined with Mars Orbiter Laser
Altimeter (MOLA) topographic data, characterizes the geologic
materials and processes that have shaped this region. In particu-
lar, the mapping helps to evaluate landforms and deposits result-
ing from modification of highland terrains by volatile-driven
degradation. This mapping study builds on previous mapping in
Hellas Planitia and to the east (Crown and others, 1992; Tanaka
and Leonard, 1995; Greeley and Guest, 1987; Price, 1998;
Leonard and Tanaka, 2001; Mest and Crown, 2001, 2002, 2003,
1
2006; Crown and Greeley, 2007) and facilitates comparisons
between the geologic history of the east rim, the remainder of
the rim, and Hellas Planitia. Specific objectives of our mapping
are (1) to reconstruct fluvial systems that dissect the Hellas rim,
(2) to characterize the extensions of Dao and Harmakhis Valles
onto the basin floor and to identify, if present, sediments these
canyons contributed to Hellas Planitia from the rim, and (3) to
investigate the mode of origin, age, and history of modification
of the boundary between the east rim and Hellas Planitia.
Regional Geology and History
The general geology of the Hellas region is known from
1:15,000,000-scale, Viking-based geologic mapping of the
eastern equatorial region of Mars (Greeley and Guest, 1987)
and earlier Mariner 9-based mapping efforts (Potter, 1976; Scott
and Carr, 1978). Later studies of Hellas have included updated
mapping of the entire basin at 1:5,000,000 scale (Tanaka and
Leonard, 1995; Leonard and Tanaka, 2001). Hellas basin and the
surrounding highlands exhibit landforms shaped by a diversity of
geologic processes, preserve exposures of Noachian, Hesperian,
and Amazonian units, and extend across a wide range in latitude
and elevation. Formation of Hellas basin by impact in the Early
Noachian Epoch resulted in widely distributed ejecta materials
and upheaved crust, which provided the precursor materials/
surfaces of the rugged rim terrain (Leonard and Tanaka, 2001).
Broad-scale, plan-form asymmetry of Hellas basin has been
recognized, and oblique impact remains a popular speculative
hypothesis for its general shape (Leonard and Tanaka, 2001 and
references therein); however, asymmetry also may result from
subsequent, localized basin modification unrelated to the initial
impact. The Argyre impact partly blanketed the western rim
of Hellas with ejecta and may have been the source of several
medium-sized secondary impacts in the region between Hellas
and Argyre basin and across Hellas Planitia (Morrison and Frey,
2007). Subsequent impacts on the Hellas basin rim, and within
Hellas Planitia, resurfaced local regions with impact breccias and
may have controlled the locations of later volcanic and tectonic
centers (Schultz, 1984; Schultz and Frey, 1990).
Once broad-scale basin topography stabilized, Hellas was
subject to infilling by aeolian, fluvial, glacial, and volcanic
materials. Pyroclastic volcanism in the Late Noachian and Early
Hesperian Epochs formed Tyrrhena and Hadriaca Paterae on the
northeast Hellas basin rim, as well as Amphitrites and Peneus
Paterae on the south rim (Peterson, 1977, 1978; Greeley and
Spudis, 1981; Greeley and Crown, 1990; Crown and Greeley,
1993). Subsequent effusive volcanism created lava flows south-
west of Tyrrhena Patera and may have triggered early develop-
ment of Dao and Harmakhis Valles along Hellas’ northeast rim
(Squyres and others, 1987; Crown and others, 1992; Tanaka
and others, 2002). Wrinkle ridges deform lavas and sedimentary
materials that were emplaced within Hellas basin, in Malea
Planum, and in Hesperia Planum. The Amazonian Period is
characterized by morphologies and deposits indicative of (1)
widespread aeolian processes that eroded the Hellas rim and
deposited smooth materials in local catchments in central Hellas
Planitia, (2) mass wasting and debris flows that form large
aprons around rim massifs and along steep interior basin scarps,
and (3) dune fields, yardangs, dust-devil tracks, and transient
splotches; interior basin fines are actively being moved and
removed by aeolian transport mechanisms (Moore and Edgett,
1993; Leonard and Tanaka, 2001). In southern regions (> lat 40°
S.), the terrain is blanketed by mid-latitude mantling depos-
its considered to be a vast contemporary (last few millions of
years) reservoir of volatiles (Mustard and others, 2001), which
could play a major role in the formation of youthful gullies on
crater and canyon walls (Bleamaster and Crown, 2005) and
overall crater degradation (Berman and others, 2005, 2009).
The basin-floor materials in the map area are included
in widespread plains material previously mapped across the
entire basin and generally attributed to a combination (typically
unspecified) of volcanic, sedimentary, and aeolian materials dis-
sected and redistributed by fluvial activity and modified by the
wind (Potter, 1976; Greeley and Guest, 1987; Crown and others,
1992; Moore and Edgett, 1993; Tanaka and Leonard, 1995;
Price, 1998; Leonard and Tanaka, 2001). Additional interpreta-
tions of the geology of the basin interior from older datasets
include widespread glaciation (Kargel and Strom, 1992; see
also Baker and others, 1991). In Viking Orbiter images, wrinkle
ridges, mesas, and channels are evident in the basin interior, and
high-resolution images reveal layering in several local scarps
and benches within the hummocky floor terrain. Tanaka and
Leonard (1995) favor an aeolian-dominated environment for
the basin interior. More recently, Moore and Wilhelms (2001,
2007), citing evidence from MOC images primarily of the
deepest parts of western Hellas Planitia (below –6,900 m), sug-
gested that Hellas basin contained ice-covered lakes. Accord-
ingly, they attributed layered sediments and polygonal cavities
to a lacustrine environment. Viking and MOLA data suggest
shorelines at –6,900 m, –5,800 m, and –3,100 m (fig. 2) (Moore
and Wilhelms, 2001, 2007). Crown and others (2005), citing
highland crater preservation, proposed the –1,800 m contour as
a potential maximum high-stand for a Hellas paleolake. Lever-
ington and Ghent (2004) modeled crustal rebound in response to
the removal of large bodies of water from the surface of Mars;
Hellas basin was one of their candidate sites. This rebound may
have induced sufficient lithospheric stress to deform the Hellas
floor materials, giving the central plateau the ridged and hum-
mocky appearance preserved today.
Maps of Dao/Niger, Harmakhis, and Reull Valles (Price,
1998; Mest and Crown, 2002, 2003) show evidence for small,
young, integrated watersheds adjacent to remnants of the
cratered highlands, large expanses of sedimentary plains sur-
rounding the canyons, and a concentration of Amazonian debris
aprons shed from massifs, crater rims, and canyons walls.
Viking image analyses showed numerous small channels in
the plains adjacent to Dao/Niger and Harmakhis Valles and a
sequence of plains adjacent to Reull Vallis that was attributed
to progressive degradation of the adjacent highlands and (or)
flooding and subsequent erosion from Reull Vallis. Several of
these previously defined units extend into the current map area.
Regional syntheses of the geology of eastern Hellas based on
Viking MTM mapping provide constraints on the nature and
sequences of volatile-driven processes from the Noachian to
2
the Amazonian Period (Greeley and Crown, 1990; Crown and
others, 1992; Mest and Crown, 2001; Crown and others, 2005).
Data and Methods
Digital files in raster and vector format produced by the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) were used in the geological
mapping of the eastern Hellas Planitia region in conjunction
with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. Datasets
used include a mixed-resolution (>231 m/pixel) Viking Orbiter
Mars Transverse Mercator (MTM) base mosaic, full-resolution
THEMIS day- and night-time IR (~100 m/pixel) and VIS (~20
m/pixel) wavelength image strips (data through March 2005),
128 pixel/degree (~463 m/pixel) resolution MOLA derived
digital elevation model (DEM), grayscale synthetic hillshades,
surface slope maps, and a 200-m-interval contour shapefile.
Additional datasets used in our mapping and crater counts
include a publicly released THEMIS daytime IR mosaic in
simple cylindrical projection resampled to a resolution of 256
pixel/degree (~231 m/pixel) and individually processed MOC
narrow-angle images at resolutions better than 12 m/pixel. The
publicly released IR mosaic contains image data released subse-
quent to production of the USGS base materials. MOC images
were used in selected areas to supply detailed morphologic
information and to discern the distribution of finely layered
deposits, which are resolved only in higher-resolution images.
The Viking, THEMIS, and MOLA DEM data were all
processed using the Integrated Software for Imagers and
Spectrometers (ISIS) software produced and distributed by the
USGS Astrogeology Team (http://isis.astrogeology.usgs.gov).
Map-projected THEMIS images were produced from individual
raw, radiometrically calibrated data acquired from Arizona State
University (http://themis-data.asu.edu). All of the digital data,
with the exception of THEMIS IR mosaic, are in Transverse
Mercator map projection with a center longitude of 270° and a
center latitude of 0° using the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) 2000 shape model of Mars (Seidelmann and others,
2002). All of the USGS digital data were produced in a format
that could easily be imported into a GIS.
This project took advantage of advances in digital tech-
nologies utilizing Environmental Systems Research Institute
(ESRI) ArcGIS ArcView 9.0 software for georeferencing and
3D analysis of datasets; however, geological mapping was con-
ducted primarily on a merged data product including the Viking
MTM mosaic/colored MOLA DEM with superposed THEMIS
VIS images in Adobe Illustrator. The THEMIS IR mosaic,
although not in the same projection, proved invaluable where
image quality of the Viking mosaic is degraded. Contacts were
transferred into ArcGIS to calculate surface areas for major
material units, facilitating compilation of crater size-frequency
statistics. Mapping methods herein draw on historical tech-
niques (Gilbert, 1886; Wilhelms, 1972, 1990), as well as new
mapping precedents set forth by geologic mappers in the ter-
restrial and planetary communities (Hansen, 1991; Tanaka and
others, 1994; Hansen, 2000; Skinner and Tanaka, 2003; Tanaka
and others, 2005).
 The map area includes a variety of linear depressions and
channel forms interpreted to be both the direct and indirect result
of fluvial activity. Thus, terms like valley, channel, and canyon
are all used extensively throughout this text. In general, the term
“valley” typically applies to small elongate troughs, or systems
of troughs, that appear to have formed by fluid flow but lack an
obvious suite of bed forms on their floors. The term “channel”
is in turn restricted to Martian troughs that display evidence of
fluid flow (sinuosity, bed forms). “Canyon” is reserved for larger
troughs that have relatively steep, scarp-like margins that may
have been formed directly by fluid flow. For our purposes, we
refer to Dao and Harmakhis Valles’ upper reaches, or heads, as
canyons because they are relatively large in scale and do not pre-
serve bed forms, nor do they resemble fluvial systems; however,
the lower reaches and termini of Dao, Harmakhis, and Sungari
Valles display varying degrees of fluvial landform preservation
such that both channel and valley are used when discussing dif-
ferent locations of these complex systems.
Crater Counting Methodology
We derived relative age constraints for the geologic units
in the eastern Hellas region in part by counting the number and
size distribution of superposed impact craters within the areas
of each major geologic unit (Tanaka, 1986; Tanaka and others,
1992). To examine statistics for craters ≥5 km in diameter, we
imported the Martian crater database compiled by Barlow and
others (2000) into ArcGIS. Evaluation of the Barlow crater data-
base allowed us to (1) identify craters larger than 5 km within
each mapped unit, (2) eliminate ridge rings, and (3) determine
superposition on the surfaces of interest. We transferred unit
boundaries into GIS using the Viking MTM and MOLA DEM
bases, and surface areas were auto-calculated by ArcGIS 9.0
software; summing individual unit exposures provided cumula-
tive unit areas. Table 1 summarizes the crater size-frequency
distribution data for each major geologic unit; N(5) and N(16)
represent the cumulative number of craters ≥ 5 and 16 km in
diameter normalized to 1 million km2. The crater size-frequency
error is ±((N0.5)/A) x 106 km2, where A = area. See figure 3
for a plot of the N(5) and N(16) crater data for major geologic
units. We did not derive statistics for small areas or elongate
exposures (vallis and channel units).
Stratigraphy
The four-MTM map area includes the terminal portions of
Dao and Harmakhis Valles and their floor deposits, dissected
plains materials, and deposits associated with the Hellas basin
floor. We defined geologic units on our map to build from previ-
ous mapping (Price, 1998; Leonard and Tanaka, 2001; Mest
and Crown, 2002) and on the results of our recent work on east
Hellas rim geology (Crown and others, 2005). Following the
mapping precedents of Leonard and Tanaka (2001) and Price
(1998), materials in MTM quadrangles –40277, –45277, and
–45272 (and –40272, previously mapped by Price, (1998)) are
divided here into two major geologic assemblages: the Hellas
3
rim assemblage (three units) and the Hellas floor assemblage
(three units). For most of the map area, the contact between
these assemblages occurs at a prominent topographic break
near the –5,800 m contour (fig. 2, red contour). At 1:5,000,000
scale, Leonard and Tanaka (2001) mapped materials within the
region above –5,800 m as the Hesperian/Noachian dissected
unit, member 1 (unit HNd1), described as a rugged and heavily
cratered material with relatively broad (several kilometer wide)
smooth-floored channels and interpreted as older rim terrain that
was extensively eroded and resurfaced by fluvial dissection and
sedimentation. Below –5,800 m, they mapped materials as the
Hesperian smooth interior material (unit His), described as an
annular band of plains along the east margin of Hellas marked
by smooth, locally undulating deposits that bury wrinkle ridges
and have gradational boundaries to other interior floor materi-
als. Mapping at 1:1,000,000 scale by Price (1998) subdivided
the dissected material (rim assemblage) into the Hesperian/
Noachian hummocky plains (unit HNh), which she described
as irregular to highly irregular surfaces with a mottled appear-
ance, and the Hesperian smooth plains (unit Hps), described as
plains of slight to moderate relief cut by sinuous channels. She
interpreted the hummocky plains as volcanic and sedimentary
materials underlying the smooth plains, which are sedimentary
deposits modified by fluvial and possibly periglacial and aeolian
processes. The Price (1998) map area falls east of the rim/floor
assemblage boundary, thus there was no evaluation of the floor
assemblage in that study.
In addition to the rim and floor assemblages, we defined
vallis and channel materials (seven units) and crater materials
(three units). Leonard and Tanaka (2001) placed all vallis mate-
rials into one unit (AHv), which includes the heads, cavi, long
sinuous depressions, and smooth floor deposits of Dao, Niger,
Harmakhis, and Reull Valles, and interpreted it to be the result
of catastrophic breakouts of groundwater and fluidized debris,
followed by sapping and collapse. Price (1998) delineated sev-
eral vallis units, for Dao Vallis in particular, recognizing mul-
tiple cut-off segments (units AHv1 and AHv2) and several units
related to the continued evolution of the vallis systems (units
AHvi, AHk, and AHv). Recent reevaluations of the geology of
the circum-Hellas canyons suggest that at least the later stages
in their evolution have been dominated by collapse, with the
possibility that significant, catastrophic flooding may have been
limited in scope and (or) been confined to early stages, evidence
of which (streamlined islands, terraces) is not preserved in their
current morphologies (Bleamaster and Crown, 2004; Crown and
others, 2005).
Hellas Rim Assemblage
From THEMIS IR and VIS data, we have evaluated the
contacts of units HNh and Hps mapped by Price (1998) and
have extended these unit boundaries westward from MTM
quadrangle –40272 to the boundary between the rim and
floor assemblages. These two areally expansive units, which
we redesignate units Nph and HNps, respectively, surround
the distal portions of the Dao and Harmakhis Valles canyon
systems. The hummocky plains material (Nph) displays tens to
hundreds of meters of relief and is located in the western part
of the rim assemblage near its boundary with the floor assem-
blage and within high-standing inselbergs on the basin floor.
Both THEMIS daytime and nighttime infrared images show a
mottled and highly variable thermo-physical characteristic for
unit Nph surfaces (fig. 4); visible data sets show that unit Nph
has a lower albedo than the smooth plains of both the rim and
floor assemblages. Unit Nph follows the regional slope of the
eastern rim and is approximately bound by elevations –5,200 m
and –6,000 m. Outcrops of unit Nph on the basin floor west of
the rim/floor assemblage boundary express a similar elevation
range, suggesting that these outcrops were once contiguous with
the rim materials and have been locally preserved. Some out-
crops of unit Nph display exposures over 400 m of continuous
elevation change, providing a local thickness estimate of ~400
m; but the unit could be significantly thicker because its lower
contact is not observed.
In MOC narrow-angle images, outcrops of finely layered
materials are exposed atop local high-standing mesas, knobs,
and surfaces near –5,700±100 m (fig. 5a); all identified expo-
sures of layered outcrops (dot symbol on the map) are located
within the boundaries of the hummocky plains material, based
on a thorough search of all MOC narrow-angle images within
a 20° by 20° area (lat 30°–50° S., long 270°–290° W.) (Crown
and others, 2005). Layers appear as a fingerprint pattern
in which successive layers make multiple-inset curvilinear
benches whose outlines occur at similar topographic levels,
indicating that they are most likely flat lying (fig. 5b,c). Corre-
lation of layered beds from outcrop to outcrop was not possible
without distinguishing marker beds, but the exposure, relation
with elevation, and spatial concentration of the layered deposits
within unit Nph suggest that the isolated layered outcrops most
likely represent remnants of a once laterally extensive, and per-
haps continuous, deposit that covered much of the east Hellas
rim. These layers could represent the uppermost member of
unit Nph, remnants of a more laterally extensive unit HNps,
and (or) younger atmospherically derived, lacustrine, or fluvial
sedimentary deposits. Because of the scale of the outcrops and
the paucity of images that reveal the layers, the exact nature
of the layered deposit is unclear. It probably is not dominated
by young atmospheric mid-latitude mantling deposits, which
would conform to local topography. More likely it is water-
laid, either at the termini of Dao, Harmakhis, and other fluvial
channels or in a Hellas-wide lake (Moore and Wilhelms, 2001,
2007; Crown and others, 2005; Wilson and others, 2007).
Many additional scarps are present along the basin floor to the
west; new high-resolution HRSC and HiRISE image data may
help to identify additional layered outcrops and better constrain
the regional distribution.
The smooth plains material (unit HNps) most likely con-
sists of sedimentary deposits because it lacks visible lava-flow
structures and displays a consistent smooth surface across a
range of image resolution, with a few layered outcrops occur-
ring at prominent scarps. The smooth plains superpose unit Nph
and surround and contain several narrow, moderately sinuous,
surface channels. In several places, these small channels appear
as spaced and coalesced pits (indicative of immature develop-
4
ment) and (or) irregularly shaped depressions (possibly the
result of modification of the original channel form). Some chan-
nel traces in unit Nph can be interpolated across gaps (probable
windows) in unit HNps (lat 44° S., long 274° W.). This suggests
that the channels were once through-going and that more pro-
gressive erosion has resulted in a transition into large, scarp-
bound depressions present throughout unit Nph (lat 45° S., long
275° W.; lat 39.5° S., long 274° W.; and lat 40.0° S., long 272°
W.). Although it is unclear if the smooth plains were deposited
from the channels (bank-full deposits) or if the channels simply
cut or undermine the plains, most likely both circumstances
exist, and the small channels within the smooth plains likely
represent the first stage in canyon development and hummocky-
plains exposure (Crown and others, 2005). This is seen from
truncation of the small channels by later channel and canyon
development. Mobilization of the upper smooth plains materi-
als and enlargement of the small channels into scarp-bound
canyons would have occurred by downcutting from channels,
scarp retreat and aeolian erosion, collapse from loss of volatiles,
or a combination of these processes. Several zones within the
smooth plains are in an initial stage of degradation and preserve
original surface characteristics of the adjacent undisturbed
plains (unit HNps); these areas include downdropped and
rotated slump blocks and are shown with a stipple pattern, nota-
bly in the northeast quadrant of the map area adjacent to Dao
Vallis (and along several sections of Dao, Niger, and Harmakhis
Valles in the surrounding region). The small channels within
unit HNps may have played an important role in the initial
transportation of volatiles and volatile-rich sediments from the
eastern Hellas highlands and in their redeposition as units HNh
and HNps.
The age designations of both rim units mapped by Price
(1998) are older on our map, based on our N(5) and N(16)
values. A significantly greater areal exposure of the hummocky
plains material in this map area has (1) increased the counting
area and, thus, the precision of the count and (2) decreased the
likelihood that a cover by younger deposits might contaminate
counts. In addition, age designations based on N(2) values by
Price (1998) may have been shifted away from the Noachian
production slope by Amazonian surface processes, which
more easily bury, degrade, and erode smaller craters. The new
Noachian designation for the hummocky plains is consistent
with the mostly Noachian designation of dissected unit 1 of
Leonard and Tanaka (2001). N(5) counts for the smooth plains
material within this study area are ~ 33% greater than in Price
(1998) and result in our inclusion of Noachian in the unit’s age
designation; N(16) counts for the smooth plains (Hps) by Mest
and Crown (2002) are in agreement with the older designation
herein. The difference in counts, affecting only smaller crater
diameters, may also be the result of Amazonian resurfacing
(debris aprons, mid-latitude mantling), which is more concen-
trated east of the area mapped here.
In the southeast corner of the map area, the division
between the rim and floor assemblages is a less distinct, more
gradual transition than the sharp margin to the north; however,
the –5,800 m contour still marks a significant morphologic
change. The rim-floor assemblage contact manifests as a much
less pronounced transition between the channeled plains (unit
AHpc, an expansive unit to the east; mapped by Mest and
Crown, 2002, 2003) and the smooth interior floor material
(unit HNfis). Some ridge traces cross this gradational bound-
ary, suggesting that deformation either postdates deposition
of unit AHpc or that ridges were in place and buried by unit
AHpc; the subdued and smooth topography of ridges and lack
of sharp embayment contacts support the latter. The surface of
unit AHpc is smooth and displays several sinuous superposed
channels; whereas, to the west, young superposed channels are
lacking and several small to medium-sized craters mark a dis-
tinct morphologic difference, as apparent in crater counts (table
1). Channeled plains material is interpreted to be a sedimentary
unit that formed following removal and redistribution of smooth
plains material south of Reull Vallis located northeast of the
map area. Unit AHpc may mark the westernmost floodplain
deposits of Reull Vallis (Mest and Crown, 2002, 2003) or a
possible older lacustrine deposit from a Hellas-wide lake; the
present-day exposure likely represents the erosional retreat
of materials that once continued farther west and into Hellas
Planitia. Unit-age designation is consistent with counts of sub-
stantially larger areas to the east by Mest and Crown (2003) and
suggests that significant aqueous reworking continued at least
until the Late Hesperian.
Hellas Floor Assemblage
Hellas floor materials are moderately to heavily cratered,
deformed by wrinkle ridges, and locally dissected or transected
by the farthest extensions of Dao and Harmakhis Valles. Most
of the floor assemblage in this map area is composed of smooth
material (unit HNfis) with an undulating characteristic that
forms clear and sharp embayment contacts and stratigraphic
markers with unit Nph and ambiguous or gradational contacts
when adjacent to rim assemblage unit AHpc and the various
vallis units.
In the southeast quadrant of the map area, near the contact
between units HNfis and AHpc, an anomalous zone of semi-
exhumed craters exists (depicted on the map with a stipple
pattern). Several of the crater rims within this zone merge with
both the pronounced and the subdued morphologic features
characteristic of Hellas Planitia regional deformation, namely
wrinkle ridges. This spatial relation suggests that these cra-
ters predate the deformation rather than having coincidently
formed by impact at wrinkle-ridge intersections. This cratered
zone appears to be a subsurface connection of ancient material
between the hummocky plains on the rim and inselbergs on the
floor that has been covered and later stripped, leaving behind a
thin veil of unit HNfis. This substrate may represent extensions
of unit Nph itself; however, the floor outcrops lie ~200 m below
those on the rim. The substrate material may be a lower member
of unit Nph or the original post-Hellas impact basement draped
by unit Nph.
Near the mouth of Harmakhis Vallis, several scarp-
bound plateaus preserve a wrinkle-ridge pattern like that in
the anomalous crater zone and in high ground north and south
of the sinuous depressions in unit HNfis. In this same region
5
several relatively deep sinuous depressions extend onto the
Hellas floor and meander around high-standing plateaus. These
distal extensions of Harmakhis Vallis may or may not represent
genetic surface connections with the Harmakhis head valley
to the northeast, because they do not preserve primary channel
features linking their origins (Bleamaster and Crown, 2004);
however, the characteristic plan-form shapes including sinuosity
and braiding appear likely to be of fluvial origin (see Discus-
sion). No wrinkle ridges are visible in the depressions, so the
channel-like features postdate wrinkle-ridge deformation of the
plateaus and the surrounding plains, both of which are resur-
faced by unit HNfis, which predates significant downcutting of
the Harmakhis Vallis terminus.
Within these depressions at the Harmakhis Vallis termi-
nus, we identify two geologic units: hummocky floor mate-
rial (unit Hfh) and smooth fill material (unit AHfs). Unit Hfh
lies adjacent to and overlies the smooth interior floor material
(unit HNfis) and broadens towards the basin center where the
materials are dissected by several linear-curvilinear troughs.
These troughs break the material into low-relief mesas and
knobs (lat 42° S., long 278° W.). Materials of unit Hfh likely
consist of Harmakhis paleochannel deposits, as well as materi-
als mass wasted from the adjacent high-standing plateaus. The
small-scale troughs may be remnants of paleodrainage or they
may also be structural in nature, representing minor amounts
of extension of a loosely consolidated sedimentary deposit.
The deepest parts of these depressions, although discontinuous,
may represent segments of the paleothalweg of the Harmakhis
Vallis terminal channels. Unit AHfs lies in these lowest regions
and has a gradational surface texture that is very smooth in its
interior and hummocky near the contact with unit Hfh. This
suggests that the unit has achieved sufficient thickness to more
completely bury the hummocks of unit Hfh near the center of
the paleochannel than at its edges. Unit AHfs is locally the
youngest unit and has a plan-form characteristic like that of
Quaternary alluvium along terrestrial river channels (contacts
mimic topographic contours and deposits fill the lowest eleva-
tions of the channel), although unit AHfs may not be deposited
as alluvial sediment. Complicating the interpretation of these
depressions and their deposits are their subdued surface char-
acter and topography resulting from burial by as much as tens
of meters of material by aeolian settling and (or) atmospheric
frost-mantling deposits.
Vallis and Channel Materials
Several dozen small channels dissect the rim and floor
assemblages. Most are depicted on the map with a blue line.
Channel materials (Hch1, AHch2, and AHch3), mapped in
channels that have wide enough floors to warrant a unit des-
ignation, are composed of original channel deposits, eroded
floor materials, materials mass-wasted from the walls, and any
other subsequent fill materials. Crosscutting relations constrain
the relative ages of the morphologic channel forms. On the
basin rim, the small channels are located primarily within unit
HNps. Most of these small channels are narrow, shallow, and
in general represent immature dissection; however, they reflect
some of the oldest fluvial dissection of the rim when water
may have been more prevalent on, or available to, the sur-
face. Several channels parallel the larger vallis systems; when
spatially coincident, small channels are truncated by younger,
wider, and more developed canyons and valles. We also see
examples of narrow, sinuous channels that contain segments
that have been widened into a trough or small canyon. This
relation, the discontinuous nature of some small channels, and
the disrupted blocks along the margins of Dao and Harmakhis
Valles favor an extended period of collapse and modification
over a catastrophic, fluvial interpretation of the observed mor-
phologies (Crown and others, 2005). Where the canyons are
sufficiently wide, Amazonian or Hesperian valley fill super-
poses their floors (units AHvD and AHvs). Floor materials are
composed of remnants of surrounding plains materials mixed
with younger aeolian, mass-wasted, and mantling materi-
als. These materials display isolated pits of various sizes and
lineations parallel to canyon walls. The pits do not appear to be
impact craters (no ejecta), thus they must be related to collapse
over void space. This suggests that the materials have been
volatile-rich and (or) have significant porosity and that collapse
occurs when volatiles migrate out of the sediments. Volatile-
rich material (sediments with interstitial ice) is also consistent
with the floor lineations, which indicate some component of
flow, in successive downcanyon and (or) across-canyon events.
Mantling deposits on canyon walls flow into and merge with
floor materials in some places, which is again consistent with
both cross-canyon and downcanyon movement.
The largest, most mature, canyon segments of Dao/Niger
and Harmakhis Valles, which also dissect the rim and floor
assemblages, are thought to be more highly evolved features:
zones where continued and possibly concentrated surface flow,
subsurface flow and piracy, and volatile migration have served
to widen the once-narrow surface channels. The lower reaches
of Dao Vallis preserve several episodes of channel development
showing abandoned truncated channels (units Hc1 and AHc2)
(fig. 6) and provide evidence of a protracted history contrary to
a single catastrophic mechanism for Dao and Harmakhis Valles
development.
With the exception of a lobe extending from the mouth of
Dao Vallis (unit AHvt), distinct depositional margins are lacking
near channel and canyon mouths that cross the rim-floor assem-
blage boundary. Unit AHvt ranges upward from a few to tens of
kilometers in width with subparallel margins and is entrenched
by a channel nearly down the center of its length (fig. 7). The
resultant deposit’s morphology is more consistent with emplace-
ment in a single event rather than successive individual flows;
channel entrenchment may represent waning of material trans-
port or subsequent dissection.
Crater Materials
One hundred and twenty craters, ranging from a few
kilometers to 40 km in diameter, buried and exposed, have
been identified and marked with a crater-rim symbol. Of these,
6
56 (mostly with diameters ≥5 km), including Bogia crater,
have associated ejecta materials, floor materials, and (or) peak
materials. Three unit designations are used to differentiate crater
peak material (unit cp), crater undivided material (unit cu), and
crater fill (unit cf). Bogia crater (lat 44.7° S., long 276.6° W.;
39.4 km diameter) contains all three crater units and is the only
crater in the region with a central peak typical of larger impact
craters. Several craters have floor deposits (unit cf), which
may be mass-wasted material from the crater rim, atmospheric
deposits, lacustrine sediments, or a combination of all of these.
Several crater walls are dissected by young hillside gullies; no
deltaic landforms have been identified in any of these craters.
South of the Harmakhis Vallis terminal plateau region, sev-
eral adjacent craters display commingled ejecta blankets, which
have radial lineations, lobate margins, and dark ejecta (Viking
and THEMIS IR datasets). A variety of degradation states is evi-
dent and consistent with various ages of the formative impacts;
however, the exposed surface is dominated by armored ejecta
blankets with few superposed pristine craters, suggesting that
this surface was buried and has since been exhumed in a rela-
tively uniform manner. Craters whose ejecta blankets include
the dark material (cross-hatch pattern) are interpreted to have
excavated rocks from unit Nph, which lies beneath unit HNfis
and also displays a low albedo.
Discussion
This geologic study has shed light on the role of water in
the evolution of Hellas Planitia and the Martian surface, includ-
ing the possibility of ancient lake deposits hypothesized for
western Hellas. Geomorphic and geologic evidence reveals an
extended history of widespread fluvial dissection, but evidence
of large-scale catastrophic flooding, as in the circum-Chryse
Planitia outflow channels, is lacking, either because it never
occurred or it occurred earlier and has since been destroyed.
Fluvial Systems that dissect the Hellas Rim
The eastern Hellas rim has experienced fluvial activity
throughout its long history. A progression from small ancient
channels that dissect the highland terrains to massive canyon
development and to contemporary gullies on the slopes of crater
and canyon walls is preserved. Timing relations along segments
of Dao and Harmakhis Valles place the major development of
these valles in the middle of the protracted history.
The geology of the eastern rim of Hellas basin, and in
particular the sequence of plains materials surrounding Dao
and Harmakhis Valles, suggest the formation of a depositional
shelf that largely covers any remnant highland terrains previ-
ously preserved here. Widespread dissection along vallis and
channel systems is evident on the basin rim. The following
idealized stages can account for the observed geologic relations:
(1) deposition of sedimentary layers possibly with interbedded
volcanics, (2) strata enriched with volatiles either during deposi-
tion or subsequently, (3) small-scale surface and subsurface
pathways established through rim materials to the basin floor,
(4) plains strata fractured and lowered along these pathways,
partly because of weakening by volatile migration, (5) blocks
subsided and rotated by continued collapse and fracturing, (6)
volatile infiltration facilitated by the resultant irregular topog-
raphy, leading to growth of sapping valleys along fractures and
over subsurface voids, (7) collapse of canyon walls and local-
ized erosion of wall materials, and (8) resurfacing of canyon
floors and mass-wasted deposits from canyon walls and lineated
valley-fill deposits extending downcanyon and surrounding
remnant hills and mounds of collapsed plains.
The canyons may have developed either in a regional epi-
sode of subsidence or in distinct episodes of initial subsidence
and collapse at different times in different places. Topographic
coincidence of canyon heads with the –1,800 m contour (see
Crown and others, 2005) supports a common origin, possibly by
the lowering of a lake level or by commonalities in the subsur-
face geology. Local factors may affect subsequent morphologic
development in either scenario. Eventually the entire eastern
Hellas landscape, as well as regions south and north of 40°
latitude, preserves morphologies consistent with surface and
subsurface ice-dominated environments. We propose that Dao
and Harmakhis Valles are the most evolved channel features in a
suite of channels on the rim; their floors are among the youngest
of the channel and vallis deposits including the tongue of mate-
rial that extends from Dao Vallis’ terminus onto the Hellas floor.
Extensions of Dao and Harmakhis Valles onto the
Basin Floor and Contributions to Hellas Planitia
from the Rim
Direct connections between the Hellas floor materials and
their potential rim sources are difficult to identify (except for the
small lobe at the mouth of Dao Vallis). Alternatively, the eastern
Hellas floor materials (1) may be composed of far-reaching
deposits from Dao and Harmakhis Valles, extending west of the
map area, or (2) may consist of planitia-wide deposits mostly
of local origin and not delivered by Dao and Harmakhis Valles.
Amazonian resurfacing (aeolian infill, mid-latitude mantling)
apparently has masked any original relations between canyon-
floor and Hellas-floor materials. Direct comparison of vallis
and canyon-cavity volumes (Dao, Niger, Harmakhis, and Reull
Valles) (Mest, 1998; Tanaka and Leonard, 1995) to the esti-
mated total volume of sediment contained in the eastern Hellas
floor deposit showed that missing material from the four major
tributaries accounts for only a small fraction of the material
present on the floor (Rogeiro and others, 2003). In any case,
the small channels and larger valles were likely significant
paleopathways for the migration from the rim to the floor of
liquid water, debris-rich slurries, or glacial flows. The volumes
of volatiles and sediments that may have been transported from,
or through, the rim to the basin floor remains uncertain (Crown
and others, 2005). Similarly, marine canyons on Earth show
little correlation between the size of the canyon, the sedimen-
tary flux, and the final volume of their associated deposits (as
high as 1 to 3 orders of magnitude greater sediment transport)
(Normark and Carlson, 2003), thus it is not surprising for the
Martian values to remain unconstrained.
7
Boundary between the East Hellas Basin Rim
and Hellas Planitia
Both the Hellas rim and floor assemblages contain units
of Noachian, Hesperian, and Amazonian age. In each case the
Noachian materials appear to have been exposed by erosion
following significant burial by younger materials. In each
situation, Amazonian surface processes are masking critical
relations between Noachian and Hesperian materials. Key to
constraining the age of the rim-floor boundary to a minimum
of Hesperian is that the large vallis filled by later materials
(AHvD and AHvH) cut directly across the contact. However,
the nature of the rim-assemblage materials, in particular unit
Nph, may push the boundary’s age back into the Noachian. The
characteristic of the rim/floor boundary located at –5,800 m is
crucial to its interpretation. This topographic level in the eastern
region marks a distinct variation in rim morphology. The –5,800
m contour deflects inward toward the basin center precisely
where Dao and Harmakhis Valles enter the Hellas floor. Several
outcrops of the finely layered deposits of unit HNps also occur
here. The deflection of the contour coupled with the presence
of the layered materials strongly suggests that this area is a site
of concentrated (relative to other regions around the basin) and
significant deposition within the Hellas basin interior. After
considerable reconnaissance and analysis of the Hellas rim (see
Crown and others, 2005), we are confident that this deposit is
unique to eastern Hellas and is most likely the result of con-
centrated aqueous activity (precipitation, recharge, storage and
release of volatiles) related to persistent atmospheric circulation
patterns that allow for migration of volatiles from the southern
pole (models by Colaprete and others, 2004, 2005). The avail-
ability of volatiles in this location facilitates both weathering
and mobilization of the highland materials from the rim to the
floor of Hellas. We suggest that this present-day shelf is a vol-
atile-rich accumulation zone (both ancient and contemporary).
The margin preserved at –5,800 m may represent a lake high-
stand or the extent of an ice-covered body of water (Moore and
Wilhelms, 2001, 2007). If unit Nph represents an early phase
of this depositional shelf, then the rim materials were beginning
to build out onto the floor of Hellas in the Noachian with later
deposits of smooth plains in the Hesperian, which may or may
not be associated with unit Nph; if a basin-wide lake did exist
at this time, then materials being shed from the eastern rim may
have been deposited subaqueously as deltaic sequences, which
would be interbedded with lacustrine sediments from the basin
as a whole. If the Hellas lake was ice covered, materials may
have been deposited as they were shed from the eastern rim and
abutted against an ice margin.
With respect to later modification of the material on the
eastern rim (Dao and Harmakhis Valles), if the volatile-rich
depositional shelf existed as described above, it would have
facilitated collapse and growth of the large canyon systems by
supplying unconsolidated materials with high infiltration capaci-
ties, sufficient volatile components, and pathways for easy
removal. Additional factors that may have contributed to eastern
Hellas’ unique geology are its proximity to both Hadriaca
Patera, a potential heat source providing enhanced geothermal
flow from magma bodies and surface flows, and southern hemi-
sphere atmospheric circulation, which carries volatile compo-
nents directly off the southern polar cap and emplaces them east
of Hellas basin.
Geologic History
The following sequence of events is suggested from the
geologic, geomorphic, and topographic relations in the mapped
part of eastern Hellas basin:
1. Formation of Hellas basin and the circum-Hellas
highlands during the Early Noachian Epoch provides the topo-
graphic framework for subsequent geologic activity.
2. Degradation and removal of material throughout the
Noachian from the basin rim results in a significant topographic
depression in a northeastern corridor between Hellas Planitia
and Hesperia Planum northeast of the map area; this represents
a period of erosion and transport and a significant gap in the
geologic record within the map area.
3. Materials shed from the Hellas rim are locally depos-
ited around high-standing knobs of the degraded rim (unit Nph).
This unit represents remnants of the ancient highlands and may
include pre-Hellas crust, contributions from the Hellas impact
(melt sheet, ejecta, shocked basement), and post-Hellas impacts
(including Argyre impact ejecta) intermixed with younger sedi-
ments. The anomalous zone of craters (stipple pattern in unit
HNfis) on the Hellas floor also represents a remnant Noachian
surface that was buried and later exhumed.
4. Widespread deposition of plains on the rim and floor
(units Nph, HNps, and HNfis). These materials may have
been deposited subaqueously in a standing body of water or
along the margin of an ice-covered lake (Moore and Wilhelms,
2001, 2007; Crown and others, 2005). If the sequence of plains
exposed in units Nph and HNps (above –5,800 m) is even par-
tially lacustrine in nature, then extensive Hellas paleolakes may
have existed into the Early Hesperian Epoch; however, if not,
then Hellas paleolakes would have been more ancient and (or)
constrained to the Hellas basin floor.
5. Fluvial dissection becomes prominent on the east rim
of the Hellas basin in the Hesperian Period, perhaps in relation
to recession of Hellas paleolakes. Small-scale channels develop
within and dissect unit HNps’ surface and transport material
toward Hellas Planitia. It is likely that the larger valles evolved
from some of these smaller channels, thus the early develop-
ment of Dao and Harmakhis Valles would have begun in the
Early Hesperian Epoch.
6. Deformation in the form of northwest-trending wrinkle
ridges crosscuts the deposits of Hellas Planitia (unit HNfis).
This deformation postdates widespread Hellas paleolakes
(stands near –5,800 m) and could have formed by rebound of
the lithosphere in response to removal of the overburden of
water or ice, but it predates the intermediate stages of Dao and
Harmakhis development (especially at their termini: units Hfh
and AHvt), signifying that there was glacial or fluvial activity
along the eastern rim well into the Late Hesperian and possibly
Early Amazonian Epochs.
7. Widespread channel development transitions to local-
ized enlargement of channel segments by sapping and collapse
8
(stipple zone in unit HNps) facilitated by earlier deposited
sedimentary and volcanic materials (units Nph and HNps).
8. Deposition of plains materials (unit AHpc) from Reull
Vallis overflow (Mest and Crown, 2002, 2003) and (or) ice-rich
surface mantles were followed by dissection by channels via
sheet wash and scour in the southern portion of the map area.
9. Vallis floor materials (units AHfs, AHvD, AHvH, and
AHvS) and channel deposits (units Hc1, AHc2, and AHc3) may
span a significant amount of time depending on the specific
source of the material. Downcanyon contributions sourced from
the canyon heads may begin to collect concurrently with devel-
opment of the canyons in the Early Hesperian Epoch, whereas
wall contributions via localized mass wasting may have been
supplied into the Late Amazonian Epoch.
10. Craters within this region likely formed throughout
the preserved geologic record and exhibit a range of preserva-
tion states; the complex surface morphologies observed may be
attributed to various combinations of crater size and age along
with different degrees of crater burial and exhumation. Craters
with the dark ejecta (within unit HNfis) are most likely the
result of younger impact events that have excavated the under-
lying ancient basement material of unit Nph.
11. The Amazonian Period is characterized by the local
exhumation and redistribution (aeolian dominated) of materi-
als and continued exposure of hummocky plains on the rim
(unit Nph) and floor (unit Hfh) of Hellas Planitia. Widespread
deposition of mid-latitude mantling deposits in southernmost
latitudes, the formation of gullies on crater and canyon walls,
and the development of wind and slope streaks (mostly small
components of vallis and channel materials) most likely formed
over several episodes of activity in the recent geologic past;
several of these small, young morphologic features are not
mapped (see Bleamaster and Crown, 2005, for gully and mantle
morphologies).
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Katherine Price and Don Wil-
helms for thorough and insightful reviews, Ken Tanaka for his
continued service to the planetary geologic mapping community
as map coordinator, Jenny Blue for her assistance with planetary
nomenclature, and Jan Zigler and Darlene Ryan for their editing
and graphical expertise, respectively. This work was made pos-
sible by funding from NASA’s Planetary Geology and Geophys-
ics program (Geologic Investigations of the Martian Highlands,
grant #NNG04GI85G). This is Planetary Science Institute
contribution #448.
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 Table 1. Areas, crater densities, relative ages, and contact relations for map units in the eastern Hellas Planitia region of Mars.
Unit Name Unit Area Count1 Count1 N(5)2 N(16)2 N(5) N(16) Designation3 Contact Relations
Symbol 2
(km ) N(5) N(16) Epoch Epoch Younger Overlaps Older
range range than in time than
Channeled plains material AHpc 34,370 2 0 58±41 -- LH-EA LH-EA Nph, HNps,
HNfis
Hummocky floor material Hfh 16,463 2 0 121±86 -- LN-EA H Nph, HNfis AHfs
Smooth interior floor material HNfis 136,790 25 4 183±37 29±15 LN-EH LN-EH LN-EH Nph AHvH, Hfh, AHfs,
AHvD, AHvS AHpc, AHvt
Smooth plains material HNps 68,463 12 0 175±33 -- LN-EH LN-EH Nph Hc1, AHc2,
AHvH, AHvD,
AHvS
Hummocky plains material Nph 72,402 23 5 318±66 69±31 LN LN LN HNfis, HNps,
Hfh, Hc1,
AHc2, AHvH,
AHvD, AHvS
1 Actual number of craters counted within the unit area.
2 N(x), No. craters >x km in diameter per 106 km2; error, ± [(N1/2)/A] x 106 km2.
3 Unit age designation determined by superposition relations and crater density analysis; N, Noachian; H, Hesperian; A, Amazonian; E, Early; L, Late (Tanaka, 1986).
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